RebeccaS wrote:
By the way, no one has any actual evidence of where he is moving, it's been a rumor since the election.

I believe the ersatz, new "brownstones" by the hospital and the Jersey Ave. light rail stop call themselves the Liberty State Park neighborhood. I won't believe that he moves here until I see him walking into Provident Bank or going to Pacific Pizza.

I'd also like to point out that Downtown isn't as integrated as some people might think. If anyone saw the Slate article yesterday, we are diverse but not integrated.

ianmac47 wrote:
Quote:

Monroe wrote:


If you knew the timeline of the tunnel to Macy's basement you'd know that Christie gave all the time needed to resolve the issues of who would bear the cost of the inevitable overruns. LaHood offered low interest loans to NJ to cover this, which didn't at all change the fact that NJ taxpayers ALONE would bear 100% of the overrun costs. Not NY (who benefit equally, if not more-remember their ONLY contribution was their half of the Port Authority contribution, not the 1/3 of the initial cost plus half the PA contribution of NJ), nor the Feds. Just NJ. Which would be many, many billions.

The 7 train extension is the best solution, especially we already built the vanity Lautenberg station on the Turnpike-but NY politicians are too savvy to partner with NJ when they think they can hose us totally.

If this tunnel is so important to the region then the Feds should step up and make it a priority-maybe get some of our tax dollars back after screwing us for decades and decades while our Senators have been complicit.

It's rather simple to figure out, even more so if you can look past myopic anti-Christie hysteria.

If you knew as much as you think you did, you would know that the reason the tunnel was cancelled was the governor planned on using the money to repave New Jersey highways. You would also know that there had been a handshake deal in place to keep the project going, but one party held a press conference before the other. Hint: Christie's presser was first. The Governor actually thought the Federal government would let NJ keep the money for some other project. Instead, New Jersey lost that money, taxpayers ended up paying $95,000,000 back, 6,000 construction jobs were never created, and New Jersey still doesn't have better access to New York.

What that really means is not relieving congestion on the PATH by avoiding the transfer in Hoboken to the PATH system. It also means a new line into Bergen County can't get built, a new line in Middlesex can't get built, direct service on the Raritan line will never happen, and additional lines to West Trenton and Scranton, if they happen, will only be indirect service, by way of other NJTransit or PATH trains.



The 7 train, which by the way, is not going to happen, was a plan that would bolster Long Island City's office development more than anything, which actually means more jobs leaving New Jersey. It would have hurt Jersey City's office market. Also, it still would mean a transfer for NJ Transit commuters and would fail to add any additional commuter rail. So while a nice fantasy, it really wasn't ever going to replace ARC, nor was it going to be particularly beneficial



New York doesn't need the ARC tunnel as much as New Jersey. The high paying jobs are in New York, and they are leaving the suburbs. The suburban office market is imploding, mostly because businesses and workers don't want to be there. There are also competitive advantages to being in centralized business districts. As far as New York is concerned, they don't need the ARC tunnel because there is plenty of room for suburban growth on Long Island and in upstate New York. Also, coincidentally, the East Side Access tunnel will save Long Island commuters 10 to 30 minutes on their morning commute, plus save on transfers. What's that mean for New Jersey? By comparison, much more of Long Island will have faster access to the high paying jobs that ARC was suppose to give access to.

Rorschach wrote:
Chris Christie's Ego is So Big that He Took $2m from Sandy Victims So He Could Be in a Commercial

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08 ... -Could-Be-in-a-Commercial

ianmac47 wrote:
Quote:

Monroe wrote:

The numbers (and points) are stupid. Christie didn't 'lose', for example, $3 billion dollars in transportation funds for the Tunnel to Macy's Basement.

He saved MANY billions of dollars in cost overruns that NJ taxpayers would SOLELY be on the hook for, as the other stakeholders in the project refused to share the pain of the inevitable extra costs. You may research the Big Dig overruns in Boston if you'd like to see the pain that would have been inflicted upon us.

That's just one of many errors/distortions in the slanted link.

Carry on.

Monroe, you ignorant slut. Christie in fact lost several hundred million dollars of the ARC money that needed to be repaid, plus legal fees, plus $18 billion in real estate values that won't be realized without better train access. Also, NJ lost all the tax revenue from the high paid white collar workers who won't be living in New Jersey because they can't commute to Manhattan by train.

Also, the misnomer "train to Macy's basement" is the sort of distinction only made by fat suburban nimrods who drive from one end of the Short Hills Mall to the other instead of walking through it. The entrance to the new tracks would have been across the street from the existing entrance to Penn Station-- true. But that won't be any farther away than NJTransit trains in Moynihan Station, across 8th Avenue. Or put another way, the tracks "under Macy's Basement" would be about as far away as the 1,2,3 trains from the A,C,E trains which both go to Penn Station. On top of that, the Gimbels tunnel connecting Herald Square subway and PATH trains to Penn Station was to reopen, connecting all this transit in one continuous system. You knew that right, or didn't you bother doing your research before reproducing Christie's talking points?

Okay, so yeah, carry on.

Oh, one more thing. Don't ever complain about how crowded the PATH was, is, or will be in the future, because there was $3 billion of federal money that was intended to ease trans hudson commuting that the state isn't getting.

arcy wrote:
Monroe, I am reposting the list of Christie items. I took your criticism out (line through). You have not addressed these issues below. Instead you blamed a "slanted" position on all these issues. That doesn't answer the fact that Christie has left NJ in a worse state then when he started. Yeah, he's popular but he's not getting things done for the majority of NJ residents. I'd be interested to hear if you have anything to say other than insults (i.e. facts):
Jobs Lost ? New Jersey Falling Behind:
7th ? New Jersey has the 7th highest unemployment rate in the country at 9.3 percent ? the worst rate in the region (April 2, 2013)
15.5% ? New Jersey residents who are underemployed (The Wall Street Journal, 7/30/2012)
47th ? NJ?s economic growth ranking (The Times of Trenton 3/4/2013)
41st ? New Jersey?s business climate ranking (CNBC, 7/10/2012)
35% ?the amount of jobs NJ has restored since the recession (The Times of Trenton, 3/4/2013)
45,000 ? Number of permanent jobs Christie cost New Jersey by killing the Access to the Region?s Core tunnel project (The Star-Ledger, 10/28/2010)
6,000 ? Number of construction jobs New Jersey lost when Christie decided to end the Access to the Region?s Core tunnel project (The Star-Ledger, 10/28/2010)
7,000 ? Jobs that could be lost if Christie succeeds in privatizing New Jersey?s state lottery (Asian American Retailers Association, 12/12)
174,100 ? Net private sector jobs lost (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)
10,000 ? Teachers and school employees laid off in 2010 due to Christie?s budget cuts (Daily Journal, 12/29/2010)
16,600 or 2.8% ? Public sector workers laid off (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)


New Jersey Families Falling Behind:
$7,885 ? New Jersey?s average property tax bill, up from $6,244 in 2009 (The Record, 5/14/13)
18.7% ? Increase in New Jersey homeowners? net property tax burden since Chris Christie took office, due to elimination of property tax relief (The Record, 5/14/13)
4 ? Number of times Christie vetoed women?s health funding
6 ? Number of family planning health centers closed, so far, due to Christie cuts to women?s health and family planning
82% ? Percentage of New Jersey towns that saw some increase in the average property tax bills in 2011 (The Star-Ledger, 1/8/2012)
138 ? Hours a week a minimum wage worker in New Jersey would need to work to afford a two-bedroom unit at Fair Market Rent (National Income Housing Coalition, 2012)
7.7% ? New Jersey?s mortgage default rate, 4.5% higher than the national average (The Star-Ledger 12/4/2012)
8.4% ? Mortgage loans in foreclosure, the 2nd highest percentage of mortgage loans in foreclosure in the nation; one out of every twelve mortgages in New Jersey is in the foreclosure stage (New Jersey Newsroom, 7/18/2012)
20.4% ? Net property taxes higher since Christie took office (NJ Spotlight, 1/30/12)
82% ? Percentage of New Jersey towns that saw some increase in the average property tax bills in 2011 (The Star-Ledger, 1/8/2012)
11% ? Amount of income a New Jersey household spends on property taxes; the national average is just 3%
138 ? Hours a week a minimum wage worker in New Jersey would need to work to afford a two-bedroom unit at Fair Market Rent (National Income Housing Coalition, 2012)
$200 ? Lost, per family, in tax credits aimed at low-income workers during the past two tax years (NJ Spotlight, 8/8/2012)
83% ? New Jersey?s graduation rate, down from 95% in 2010 (New Jersey Newsroom 11/29/2012)
24% ? Percentage increase since 2000 in the number of New Jersey children living in poor neighborhoods (NJSpotlight.com, 3/8/2012)
7 ? Percent that New Jersey?s homeless population rose between 2009 and 2011 (NJSpotlight.com, 4/19/2012)
48 out of 50 ? New Jersey?s rank when it comes to serving school breakfast to low-income children, many of whom come to school hungry and unable to concentrate on their school work (Advocates for Children of New Jersey, 1/31/2012)




Crumbling Infrastructure & Rising Costs:
651 ? The number of New Jersey bridges found to be ?structurally deficient? by the Federal Highway Administration, up from 620 in 2010, the year Governor Christie took office. (The Star-Ledger, 6/19/2013)
$13 ? Record high cash tolls on the George Washington Bridge, Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, Goethals Bridge, Bayonne Bridge and Outerbridge Crossing (USA Today, 12/3/2012)
25% ? Increase in fares for NJ Transit rail and commuter bus lines since Christie took office (Asbury Park Press, 4/14/10)
10% ? Increase in fares for local bus and light rail fares since Christie took office (Asbury Park Press, 4/14/10)
36% ?Percentage of NJ bridges are ?structurally deficient? or ?functionally obsolete? (NJTV, 3/29/2013)
66% ?Percentage of NJ roads are in poor or mediocre condition, costing motorists $3.5B a year in extra repairs ? $601 per motorist (NJTV, 3/29/2013)

Abusing Taxpayer Money:
$23.8 million ? The total cost for primary and special elections to fill the seat of U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg in October of 2013, rather than waiting until the November general election one month later. (Bloomberg, 6/6/13)
$150 Million ? The amount AshBritt secured in no-bid contracts from 53 municipalities throughout New Jersey after Christie Administration secured their contract (Star Ledger, 3/29/2013)
Over 100 ? Chris Christie uses taxpayer money to fund GOP rallies under the guise of town hall meetings
164 ? Christie and Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno have flown 164 times on state police helicopters?and counting (Bloomberg, 4/1/2013)
$390,200 ? Amount Christie and Guadagno have cost taxpayers using state police helicopters (Bloomberg, 4/1/2013)
$1.2 Million ? Paid to politically-connected lobbying law-firm Patton Boggs for fighting demands from federal government to return $271,000,000 spent on Access to the Region?s Core project (NorthJersey.com, 7/5/11)
$279 Million ? Loss to NJ taxpayers as a result of Governor Christie canceling the ARC Tunnel project for his own political gains (NorthJersey.com, 1/8/2012)
$300,000 ? Taxpayer dollars wasted in January 2010 to lure businesses from Illinois to New Jersey; to-date, not a single business has relocated


Taxpayer-Funded Corporate Bailouts? And No Job Gains:
54% Fewer ? Decrease in enforcement actions against industrial polluters, from 29,579 in 2008 to 13,555 in 2012 (The Star-Ledger, 7/12/13)
$2.1 Billion ? In his first 3 years, Christie has doled out $2.1 billion in tax credits and subsidies to 171 various projects (NJPP, April 2013)
$2.3 Billion ? Tax breaks for corporations in Governor Christie?s fourth and final budget alone (The Times of Trenton, 3/4/2013)
$261 Million ? State tax credits was doled out to Revel casino which filed for bankruptcy just 10 months after opening (The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/21/2013)
$200 Million ? Cost of tax breaks Christie promised to the foreign company that took over development of Meadowlands Xanadu project (NorthJersey.com, 5/3/2011)

Budget Mismanagement ? Costing NJ Taxpayers:
Over $800 million ? Money paid skimmed from the state?s Clean Energy Program ? paid by New Jersey residents ? to make up for lost revenue under Governor Christie?s administration (New Jersey Spotlight, 4/24/13)
46th out of 50 ? New Jersey?s ranking as one of the worst run states in America (Yahoo Finance 11/27/2012)
41st ? New Jersey?s business climate ranking (CNBC, 7/10/2012)
$282 Billion ? New Jersey?s debt, the fourth-highest debt in the nation (NJBIZ, 8/29/2012)
$400 Million ? Race to the Top federal education funding lost because Christie refused to compromise and work with teachers? union on application for funding (The Star-Ledger, 10/10/10)
$3 Billion ? The largest Federal Transit Administration grant in American history, lost when Christie killed the Access to the Region?s Core tunnel project (Asbury Park Press, 12/27/10)
$145 Million ? Amount owed to the federal government for Medicaid mismanagement (The Star-Ledger, 1/12/2012)
$171 Million ? Minimum expected losses from 2012-2018 as a consequence of Christie pulling New Jersey out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (Environment New Jersey, 2/15/2102)
$2 Billion ? Amount Christie cut education by ? a sum so drastic the state supreme court ruled it unconstitutional
3 ? New Jersey has dropped to number three nationally in terms of solar capacity and installations (NJ Spotlight, 3/15/2013)
4 out of 10 ? New Jersey?s emergency preparedness score. 43 states received a higher score than the Garden State (The Asbury Park Press, 12/19/2012)
2,832,000 ? Shortfall in Christie?s payment to New Jersey?s pension fund for 2012 (The Star-Ledger, 1/25/12)
$2,100,000 ? Shortfall in Christie?s payment to New Jersey?s pension fund for 2013 (The Star-Ledger, 1/25/12)
- See more at: http://www.onenewjersey.org/christie- ... ers/#sthash.lW5eIDS5.dpuf

TheBigGuy wrote:
Quote:

arcy wrote:
You may disagree with her politics and her positions but calling Milly a "union toady" and Barbara a "Botox Barbara" is really uncalled for.

As opposed to public comments made about Christie's personal weight problem... "union toady" is not bad, basically means the union says jump and she says how high? You could also describe her as "water carrier" for "union hacks". it's not a personal attack, Botox Barbara might be rough but that's politics. Don't forget Corzine was bedding the head of the CWA union... also giving her 500K loans to buy property in the Tea Building Hoboken.

arcy wrote:
You may disagree with her politics and her positions but calling Milly a "union toady" and Barbara a "Botox Barbara" is really uncalled for.